Distribution pattern, reproductive biology and fishery of wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata ([de la Pylaie- Moreau- 1881) in the Gulf of Cádiz (S.W. Spain).
The wedge sole Dicologlossa cuneata (Moreau, 1881) is a coastal species that lives along the inner shelf waters of the Gulf of Cadiz down to a depth of 115 m. Its ®shery, the size composition of the exploited popu- lation, and its reproduction have been studied on the basis of data acquired from com...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 1998 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/325211 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/325211 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Centro Oceanográfico de Cádiz Pesquerías |
| Sumario: | The wedge sole Dicologlossa cuneata (Moreau, 1881) is a coastal species that lives along the inner shelf waters of the Gulf of Cadiz down to a depth of 115 m. Its ®shery, the size composition of the exploited popu- lation, and its reproduction have been studied on the basis of data acquired from commercial statistics from 1984 to 1994 and from sampling carried out during 1993 and 1994. The relative abundance of the species and its geographic and bathymetric distribution have been ex- amined by analysis of four trawl surveys carried out from 1992 to 1994. D. cuneata is captured mainly by the trawl ¯eet, and to a lesser extent by gillnet gears. Wedge sole ®shery has a marked seasonality. Size-frequency distributions from commercial samples and from bot- tom-trawl surveys are very similar, ranging from 12 to 26 cm total body length (TL). D. cuneata is a ``repeat- spawner''. Peak spawning is from January to May. Fe- males attain sexual maturity at 18 cm TL, while sexually mature males have been observed at 15 cm TL. The ¯exibility of the spawning strategy of D. cuneata throughout its distribution range is discussed. The scarcity of small specimens in the monthly samples and sequential spawning throughout the year prevented the estimation of growth parameters by means of length- frequency analysis. D. cuneata is present in greatest abundances in the sandy±muddy bottoms of the Gua- dalquivir River mouth at 15 to 30 m depth. Its optimum habitat coincides with the principal commercial ®shing grounds. The possibility of reproductive vertical migra- tion is discussed, but more precise data are needed be- fore a viable hypothesis can be made. |
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